Parrot Repossessed Wrongly Along With The House
A US bank has apologised after one of its contractors allegedly trashed a women’s house and took her parrot while wrongly repossessing her home.
Angela Iannelli, 46, of Pittsburgh, sued Bank of America on Monday claiming her mortgage was up to date when one of the banking giant’s contractors damaged furniture, took her pet parrot Luke and padlocked her door.
In a statement, the bank said it “sincerely apologises” and has tried for months to resolve the issue.
We say shame on them!!
Pak O Bird Carrier Review – African Grey Parrot Centre ™
Well I thought fro those of you who may be interested in purchasing a Pak-O-Bird carrier at some point I thought I would write a review of how I find it as its a little pricey at £130 (from Parrot Comforts http://www.parrotcomforts.co.uk/) So best having some idea why its so expensive.
The Pak-O-Bird arrived in a flat box and was very easy to assemble! The main body of the carrier is in one piece that just needs 2 roof supports added that press stud into place and a roof bar for extra sturdiness that also press studs on. Then all you do is zip up the sides, velcro along the front bottom and add the carry straps! There are two ways of carrying the Pak-O-Bird, on your back or on your shoulder. The back straps also have a strap that can be clicked together to join them so that its more secure when carrying. The sides of the carrier are made from a very fine stainless steel mesh so that fresh air can get into your feathered friend but insects cant! There are also flaps that cover the mesh if your bird gets a little spooked.
On the back of the carrier are two loops that enable your carrier to be fastened into a car by a seatbelt. Inside the carrier the bottom is lined with a thin vinyl sheet thats easily wiped clean and on the roof of the carrier are two D rings for hanging toys. The perch provided is a dragon wood perch which tightly secures to the sides of the carrier and can be set at 3 heights. Two food bowls also secure to the sides.
Over all Id say this product is of excellent quality and you can see its been very well thought out. No stitching is visible, so your bird wont easily be able to chew and destroy the carrier, its very light in weight making it comfortable to carry and there is plenty of room inside for your bird to sit comfortably on its journey. The whole thing can fold flat for storage and is easily wiped clean. So if your the adventurous type Id say the Pak-O-Bird is a must!!! Id give it a 9/10 only on the basis that its a little expensive for everyone, but well worth it if you want to let your grey explore the world with you.
Introducing Your Bird to Pak-O-Bird
After setting up the carrier I brought Tweak over to it. At first she flapped like crazy so in a calm yet excited voice I showed her her new ‘toy’. First of all I sat her on it for 5min or so to let her explore herself and see it wasnt scary or going to hurt her. Then in the feeding bowls I put some sunflower seeds and got her to go inside and quickly pulled over the closing flap securing her inside. Once zipped up she sat there gringing her beak and falling asleep!! I was quite amazed how well she took to it but I think the design of it makes them feel its a safe place to be. I think if Id have fastened up the side panels to cover the mesh she would have fell asleep and stayed in there So after say 20min of her inside looking rather relaxed I picked the carrier up and put it on my back, had a little walk round then placed it down. She was fine! Then I opened it up and let her come out in her own time.
Im not saying everyones birds will be as comfortable as Tweak was with it but with a little patients and a few treats you can get there
I hope this has helped anyone thinking of buying this.
Toria.
Parrot is stolen from Wirral pet shop reward offered.
A REWARD is being offered for the safe return of a parrot that has been stolen from a Wirral pet shop.
Jasper, an African Grey parrot, was taken from his cage by a gang which smashed its way through the front door of Irby Pet Shop in Thingwall Road, Irby, in the early hours of Friday, February 26.
It is believed the four men arrived at the shop in a silver Astra before using half a paving slab to smash their way through the front door.
Apart from Jasper, nothing of any value was taken. Police are investigating the break-in and Jasper’s disappearance.
His Wallasey-based owner Jayne Smith, who works at the pet shop owned by her mother, is devastated that 10-year-old Jasper has gone and fears she may never see him again.
He has lived in the shop for the last six months and moved in when Jayne was moving house.
She told the Globe: “He’s not a particularly friendly bird and once people realise how bad he can be they will probably let him go and we may never see him. He’s lived in the shop for about six months and is quite a character.
“The customers love him. He’s a good talker and can do a whole conversation and is very popular. The customers are very upset that he’s gone.
“It beggars belief that someone could come in and do this. They’ve made a heck of row when they’ve broken in and it’s obviously disturbed Jasper.
“They probably left the till, because Jasper was making so much noise that they had to get away quickly. They probably took him to shut him up.
“It doesn’t matter how we get him back. Even if they dumped him safe and well on the step outside the shop, at least he’d be home.”
Anyone with information on Jasper’s disappearance can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Alternatively, call the shop on 648 3032.
African Grey Takes Up Residence In Bar
A Longford publican has come up with a novel way to attract the crowds into his pub during the recession. Eddie Valentine recently purchased a pet parrot and his feathery friend is now taking up residence behind the bar in Valentine’s. Since ‘Coco’s’ arrival in recent days there has been an air of excitement in the Main Street public house and Eddie says his customers can’t get enough of the African Grey.
“People just love him. He barks like a dog, meows like a cat, whistles and talks. He can even sing ‘You raise me up’ by Westlife. He really is the new focal point of the bar.”
Eddie then explained why he decided to buy the unusual pet for the bar.
“Well I’ve always wanted a parrot but instead of keeping him at home where he wouldn’t get any attention I decided to bring him to the bar. I’m always here so he’ll have company.”
He then described the bird’s transition period to his new environment.
“I knew it would take him a few days to settle in but I couldn’t believe how happy he was within a day or two. It’s in the African’s Grey’s nature to be very sociable and he’s in his element here now.”
The cheeky chappy has even got his owner in trouble on a few occasions.
“He can say some lovely things and he can say some very crude things and sometimes he can do it in front of a crowd which can be quite embarrassing. I’ve been teaching him some new words since he came to the bar though – now he can say ‘Ed loves Coco’.
Such is the impact of the new addition to the bar that a famous Irish entrepreneur is considering buying one for his own business. Eddie explained: “Bill Cullen heard about Coco the other day and he rang Jackie straight away in Molly D’arcy’s to tell her to get him a parrot too!”
When asked is it fair to keep a pet like this in a public house Eddie is quick to defend his decision.
“I don’t agree it’s cruel. He’s out of harm’s way in behind the bar and he’s being well looked after by me and my staff.”
Coco is celebrating his third birthday this Friday night and Eddie has decided to make a real night of it. “We’re planning a huge birthday party for him with a cake and lots of finger food and everyone is invited to help him celebrate.”
African Grey parrots can live up to the ripe old age of 70 and Eddie says he plans to hand his pet down to his children so he can live on in the bar for future generations to see.
So do you agree that a parrot should be able to live in a bar or not? Please comment below with your thoughts on the subject Thanks 
)
Paula
Rhythm In Animals Reveals Evolution Of Human Music
Alex was small, but precocious. He could count to six, do simple math, name shapes and colors, even help other students learn to speak. But the real surprise came when he heard music. Even though he’d never learned how, Alex began to dance.
Here’s the thing: Alex was a bird.
Although the African Grey parrot was already famous for his intelligence and linguistic abilities, there had been no signs of any musical talent. That changed in 2007, when Adena Schachner, a Harvard University PhD student who researches the origins of musical behavior, played Alex a song she’d composed.
“We were completely shocked to see that spontaneously, of his own accord, the parrot started to, it looked like, move to the beat,” Schachner said. Other researchers had told her that auditory entrainment — that is, listening to an external rhythm and moving the body in time with it — was a uniquely human skill. But mathematical analysis of Alex’s head bobs revealed that he was legitimately in sync with the music. So much for unique.
For humans, musical rhythm is universal and ingrained. Dance is found in every culture on Earth. Until recently, however, the evolutionary origins of our rhythmic ability had largely gone unprobed. Now, scientists like Schachner are looking to examples of rhythm in animals for insight into how we got the beat.
The first logical place to look for musical behavior like our own is in other primates. Chimpanzees, our closest evolutionary cousins, drum on logs and tree roots with their hands to display social dominance. Gorillas famously beat on their chests. And macaque monkeys, whose last common ancestor with humans lived 30 million years ago, shake branches in the wild — or cage bars when they’re captive — to tell other monkeys who’s boss.
Recent research demonstrates that for primates, like for us, rhythm and social communication are closely linked. Macaques process drum sounds in the same brain regions as vocal calls, according to a study published last October in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Co-author Cristoph Kayser, who studies how the brain processes auditory information at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, explained that the corresponding brain regions in humans are specialized to analyze a speaker’s emotional state. In other words, just as we may hear sadness or anger in a piece of music, a macaque can sense excitement or agitation in a fellow macaques’ drum beats.
But primates’ musical abilities end there. Although apes and monkeys can hammer out a rhythm, they can’t entrain to an external one. Attempts to teach them how have failed, according to Anniruddh Patel, who studies music and the brain at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, Calif. That’s why it was such a surprise that an animal less closely related to humans, like Alex the parrot, could move on beat.
Alex died unexpectedly before Schachner’s research on him could continue, but he wasn’t the only dancing bird. Patel also works with Snowball, a sulfur-crested cockatoo whose proclivity for bopping to the Backstreet Boys made him a YouTube sensation. When he saw a video of Snowball swinging his head and stomping his legs to music, Patel remembers thinking: “Holy cow, this looks like it might be real.”
To determine if Snowball was truly entraining or merely hitting the beat by coincidence, Patel played the bird sped-up versions of the Backstreet Boys song. Sure enough, the faster the song played, the faster Snowball rocked out. That meant he could both recognize the rhythm and finely adjust his muscle movements to match it, which is the same thing we do when we dance.
“It suggests that you don’t need a human nervous system to have this behavior,” said Patel. He co-authored a paper on Snowball that appeared alongside Schachner’s study on Alex in Current Biology last May.
Schachner’s team also cast a wider net across the animal kingdom by searching YouTube for dancing pet videos. If something looked like entrainment, they analyzed it frame-by-frame to determine if the animal was truly on tempo. They found evidence of genuine entrainment in 14 bird species — including parrots, macaws and cockatoos — and in African elephants.
Our last common ancestor with elephants lived tens of millions of years ago, and birds’ evolutionary line split off long before that. So why do birds and elephants share something with us that our closer primate relatives don’t?
The link, Patel and Schachner believe, is vocal mimicry. Each of the species that can entrain to music has also evolved the ability to imitate external sound. Birds like parrots can imitate other bird calls and human speech. Elephants can reproduce the sounds of other elephants — and even, in one recently recorded case, the sound of trucks passing on a highway.
“The theory is that part of the machinery that’s necessary for keeping a beat originally evolved for vocal imitation,” Schachner said. That means that dancing may not be a beneficial adaptation itself, but rather a lucky side effect of one.
Or, as Patel put it, “It may be something that comes along for the ride when you have a certain kind of brain.”
The kind of brain you need seems be a social one. As he continues his research with Snowball, Patel is finding that the bird’s motivation to dance increases when there’s a person around. That neatly mirrors a recent study with human infants, which demonstrated that they can drum on a beat more accurately when they’re drumming with a human partner, rather than with a drumming robot or a sound alone. The work was published this past November in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
The study’s lead author, Sebastian Kirschner of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, says the research suggests an innate social motivation to synchronize, which may turn out to be “typically human, but not uniquely human.”
Harvard’s Schachner is now focusing her research on beat-keeping in humans — she wants to see if moving in synchrony helps people cooperate better. Ultimately, she hopes the work will clarify the origins of our ability to socialize, and perhaps of music itself.
“It’s a phenomenon that’s so important to so many people,” Schachner said, “and we have no idea how it got there.”
Family searches for their lost Parrot!.
A Derry woman says she’s sick with worry after her pet parrot went missing on Thursday night.
Princess the parrot has ruffled a few feathers in the Bryson house since she made her escape through an open door in St Johnston at tea time on Thursday. Her owner Lena Bryson has now offered a reward for the safe return of her Princess.
“Princess is an African grey parrot,” she explained. “We were at my mother’s home in St Johnston when she flew out of a door that had been left open. We watched as Princess flew in the direction of Derry but we haven’t see her since.
“I’m not even sure if she’ll be able to cope on her own.”
Lena who says this is her pet’s first trip away from home, has asked local people to keep an eye out for Princess.
“I’m afraid that someone might mistake her for a pigeon,” she said. “But Princess has a big beak. She is a beloved family pet and we are desperate to get her back. She is so well behaved.
“Princess says things like ‘Can I have a wee cup of tea?’ She can also wink and dance. Princess comes up to your face and says ‘Give me a wee kiss’ and gives you a peck on the lips.
‘Likes females’
“Princess like females more than males, if a female approaches her, and puts her hand near her feet, she will probably come up to her hand. I’m hoping someone will have seen Princess or know where she is.”
Last year we reported how Askim the parrot flew an amazing 30 miles from his home in Maydown to Dunree Fort in Buncrana, where he was spotted by a neighbour.
If you have any information about Princess please contact Lena Bryson on 07547815372
Calling All People That Have Been Scammed
You may have seen our blog post that we wrote last year about how to spot a parrot scam and avoid parting with your hard earned cash for nothing.
Well as a result of the resounding success of this post we have been contacted by some people that want to put something together about parrot scams and people that have been scammed.
We’ve heard from so many people already but please contact us if you have been scammed and want to have your story heard, so if you think you’re brave enough to stand up in front of the nation/world to tell them your story and disgrace the people that do it (if they have an ounce of morality in them) whilst helping to prevent others form suffering the same fate as you then shoot us an email to
admin@african-grey-parrot-centre.co.uk
Behavioural Signals In Grey Parrots
By Greg Glendell. Adapted from an article originally published in Parrots magazine 2009.
All birds have a large range of behaviours, which are essentially innate; they are born with the ability to carry out these behaviours; though there will be variation in how each individual bird carries out each behaviour. In grey parrots there are a range of calls, postures and actions which the birds use to communicate detailed information to each other. This relates to the bird’s fears, likes, dislikes and methods of avoiding harm (predator avoidance). Many of the behaviours are carried out by very subtle combinations of raising or lowering certain feathers, particularly the feathers on the head, back and neck. The process of determining accurately the purpose of each behaviour is not easy to achieve. First, you need a group of birds of the same species which you can observe as they interact with each other. It is important that the birds cannot see you while you are recoding their behaviours, as you should not influence their behaviour. Next, each behaviour is described in some detail and given a name. Finally, you need to carry out some tests so as to determine accurately what the purpose of each behaviour is. You should then be able to predict interactions between the birds and between birds and people. This is what I have done this for this species. The result is the decoded ‘language’ for the species studied, called an ethogram. It cannot be transferred to other species. Each species has their own complete set of signals which is different from other species of parrots, though some behaviours may be similar to closely related species.
The 34 signal/behaviours have all been seen in Timneh grey parrots and most (but not all) have been seen in African greys. In most cases the birds were not aware of being watched by people while they gave the signals. The observations come from birds observed over 16 years in bird parks, cages and aviaries of bird-keepers, birds at liberty and in caged birds offered for sale. In most cases an attempt has been made to interpret the function of each behaviour. Most behaviours can be classified as either affiliative (Af) (friendly, social behaviour) or agonistic (Ag) (anti-social, aggressive, or assertive). Some behaviours are termination behaviours, performed as a way of signalling the end of another activity. A few are ‘commencement’ behaviours; these are performed where the bird is preparing itself to carry out some other task. Some behaviours are neutral (N) or I have not been able to determine their function. Some of these interpretations are only provisional. The signals are listed in alphabetical order of given name. I have not been able to observe many behaviours which may occur while birds are in sustained flight. All of the behaviours below are innate behaviours; every grey parrot is born with the ability to do these behaviours, and, given the stimulus, will carry them out as appropriate. They are not ‘learnt’ behaviours or ‘tricks’. They are part of this species’ behavioural repertoire and they form a valuable key into understanding your bird’s likes and dislikes, fears and degree of contentment. It is vital to back away immediately from any bird if it ever shows fearful behaviours such as growling.
1.Aighr! Aighr! Bird makes loud, repeated, medium pitched “Aighr, aighr” noise while (usually) flying in an excited, erratic or eccentric manner.
Interpretation: Af. invitation to play?
2. Attack. Most body and head feathers raised as in Mantling (No. 17). Bird walks or runs towards source of stimulus with head lowered and bill half open, may blaze eyes (see No. 6). ‘Opponent’ may adopt a similar stance, or fly away. Where opposed, both birds may fight bite attempting to bite eachothers eyes or beak, as their eyes blaze wildly (No 6).
Interp: Ag; behaviour regarding space, food, or threat to one’s mate.
3. Chuck, chuck. Bird makes a soft “chuck, chuck” sound on alighting a perch after having been flying. Call not repeated more than twice.
Interp: Af; Short distance contact call? Termination signal?
4. Clicking. Bird makes clicking sound, 1 to 4 times, by snapping the lower mandible against a notch in the upper mandible. All feathers usually held down though may raise feathers on back (but never on rump) very briefly.
Interp: Ag. Warning/assertiveness/irritation. Bird does not wish to be disturbed, or interact with another. May blaze eyes (see No. 6) if further provoked.
5. Drawing. Bird touches any surface it may be stood on, and with its beak ‘draws’, making erratic or semi-circular movements, pausing to raise its head occasionally (not seen in Af grey).
Interp: Af/Ag? Assertiveness/confidence, desire to initiate some action, impatience, desire for play?
6. Eye blaze. Pupils contract rapidly but briefly while head (usually but not always) held forwards and lowered. Contraction/dilation may be repeated 2 or 3 times. Sometimes, some head and neck feathers are raised, and bird may “Click” (No. 4).
Interp: Ag + Af; Bird is excited (negatively or positively). This signal should not be confused with the bird’s focussing at close distance. In close-focussing, the bird contracts its pupil (iris) to increase depth of field to be able to focus at near-beak distances; e.g. while feeding.
7. Flapping. Stance similar to v-wings (No. 30 below). While perched, bird flaps wings 3-5 times in stereotypical manner while perched with an upright stance; head held forwards. Feathers on back may be raised.
Interp: Af to mate. Ag to others? Territorial? Advertisement of presence to birds known by the signaller (peers and/or mate).
8. Flight Attack. All body feathers held down tightly; bird is always standing on both feet and looks very alert with staring eyes. Bird flies at opponent with no discernible warning (either audibly or visually) usually trying to gain height over the opponent and striking with feet and/or beak while in flight.
Interp: Ag. Intention to drive another bird away.
9. Fluffed up. Bird has upright stance and may rest on one foot only. Most body feathers (but never any wing feathers) are slightly raised, but relaxed. Feathers around chin/cheeks, forehead and back of head (but not neck) clearly raised but feathers on middle of top of head are flattened.
Interp: Af/N. Bird is relaxed, sleepy; may not wish to interact with other birds/people.
10. Growl (fear). Bird makes loud, throaty continuous growling sound. Body feathers held down tightly.
Interp: Ag; Bird is fearful, not aggressive.
11. Growl (threat). As fear growl, but most body feathers including wing coverts are raised. Bird may Click (No. 4) as well.
Interp. Ag; fearful, but not as fearful as in No. 10. Bird wishes to remain where it is while repelling an intruder.
12. Hackles. All feathers on back of neck and upper back raised and lowered very briefly.
Interp: Ag/N; Mild aggression or determination/mild frustration or ’commencement activity’ while bird prepares to do something which requires extra attention, such as fly to an unfamiliar perch, or approach a new object. Shows bird is concentrating/determined?
13. Head pumping. Head is moved up and down vertically and rhythmically 2-6 times while body is motionless.
Interp: Af to mate; Ag. To others? Conspicuous show of assertiveness, confidence, territorial display?
14. Hollow whistle. Bird leans forward and downwards while making single hollow-sounding whistle.
Interp: Af to mate; Ag to others: Bird is alert, confident, but not alarmed. Mild threat/provocation to other greys except mate?
15. Kissing (in mated/bonded pairs only). Birds gently lock beaks briefly, one bird’s beak at 90 degrees to the other; heads sometimes dipped together several times. May proceed to mutual feeding (see 18).
Interp: Af; Greeting between a bonded pair.
16. Knocking. Bird uses front of bill to tap 2 to 6 times on any surface that may produce a resonant sound, e.g. nestbox, windowpane.
Interp: Af to mate; Ag to others. Territorial display?
17. Mantling. Feathers on back, dorsal side of neck and back of head are raised; may also raise feathers on upper wing-coverts. Eyes appears wide and staring, never sunken in. May blaze eyes; may spread/fan tail (rare).
Interp: Ag; Threat/warning of intention to attack the source of the stimulus by walking (not flying). May follow this by Attack (No. 2).
18. Mutual feeding. As kissing, but one bird (usually the male?) passes regurgitated food to the female. Female further stimulates male by pumping her head rhythmically up and down during food exchange, and ‘kissing’ the male.
Interp: Af. Courtship, foreplay, maintains pair bond?
19. Mutual preening. One bird preens the other. Invariably this is confined to the head or upper neck area only. Both birds are usually relaxed with eyes sunken in; most head feathers are raised but ‘relaxed’ on the receiving bird. Body feathers may also be slightly raised on receiving bird.
Interp: Af. Maintains pair bond/courtship in paired birds? Af in non-bonded birds/siblings/peers?
20. Ostrich/fear huddle. (Only seen so far in caged birds while in the company of humans). Bird attempts to hide by facing away from source of stimulus, hiding its head in corner of cage on the floor. Bird remains stationary. May growl if disturbed. Often seen in a group of birds who all congregate in a ‘fear huddle’ in the same corner of the cage.
Interp: Ag. Extreme fear response in highly stressed birds.
21. Rasping. Lower bill rubbed/vibrated repeatedly by being drawn inwards against inside of upper bill, producing a rasping or purring sound. Bird is stationary, relaxed and may stand on one foot only. Often done at or before roosting or during afternoon ‘siesta’. The only sound likely to be heard during darkness. Body and appearance as in ‘Fluffed up’.
Interp: Af. Close contact/ reassurance call? Self-comforting behaviour? Other bird(s) reply by rasping as well.
22. Scratching. Bird scratches the floor, first with one foot, then the other in a rhythmic, rather stereotypical manner. The head is held low, never above the height of the bird’s back, the beak usually touching the floor, or holding on to the cage wire. Not often seen in adults but usually in immature birds.
Interp: Ag; Frustration at confinement? Substitute nest-excavation behaviour?
23. Scratch Request. Head held low and brought forward (bill may be touching perch) while head and some upper neck feathers are raised. ’Chin’ feathers always raised. Eyes may be partially closed or appear sunken in. Bird stands quite still.
Interp: Af; Invitation for mutual preening/head scratch. Pro-social/friendly (submissive when displayed to an aggressor?)
24. Screech. Bird makes screeching/screaming sound, usually once only. May blaze eyes.
Interp: N/Ag; Excitement mixed with irritation or frustration (at self/object or other bird?).
25. Squawk. Single loud, harsh note, repeated 2-6 times, sometimes more. All feathers held down tightly. Often given on sight of a cat or dog, or unfamiliar/close approach of unfamiliar person or object. Bird may fly immediately in panic.
Interp: Ag. Contact call when produced at low volume and not repeated. But fear/alarm call when volume increased and call repeated. Invitation to take flight? Predator escape response? Or sight of some other threat to self, mate or peers?
26. Strutting. Bird walks in exaggerated, pompous manner; swaggers and stomps each foot down as it walks with the head held upright. Not seen on Af. grey.
Interp: Af to mate; Ag to others? Assertiveness/territorial display?
27. Swaying. Bird’s feet remains in fixed position while swinging its head and sometimes whole body conspicuously in an eccentric manner several times. Often this behaviour is a prelude to, and associated with Strutting. Not seen in Af. Grey.
Interp: Af to mate; Ag to others. Assertiveness, intimidation, or invitation to play?
28. Tailshake. Tail shaken rapidly but only briefly from side to side, sometimes accompanied by shaking of body feathers.
Interp: Af/N; Bird is relaxed and ready or keen to do something. Commencement activity. And/or termination activity seen after bird has carried out some other familiar activity. Also sometimes seen after ‘kissing’ when bonded birds greet each other.
29. Turn away. Bird turns sideways to another (opponent?) lowers head and usually walks briskly away. May use a side-step/skipping action, keeping head down and eyes out of sight of opponent. May raise ‘chin’ feathers.
Interp: Af/N; Appeasement/submissiveness. Bird wishes to avoid conflict?
30. V wings. Head is drawn in to shoulders, wings raised up over back by extension of humerus/shoulder joint, and primaries flicked out and in 2 to 4 times by extending and flexing at wrist. Usually performed when the bird sees another familiar bird (or human) after a short absence.
Interp: Af. ‘Greeting’ given to birds (or humans) known to the bird?
31. Wing-drop/chuckle. Wings held down and out from body; body feathers held down tightly, beak partly open, tongue may be seen moving. Bird may make chuckling sound. Mating may follow in bonded pair.
Interp: Af; Courtship; bird is sexually aroused.
32. Wing flip. Bird flips one wing out and then back in by sudden extension at shoulder joint only, producing a single, soft flicking or clapping sound. May repeat this with other wing or same wing within a few seconds of first flip. Bird never flips both wings at the same instant. Body feathers held flat down but not always tightly. This identical behaviour is seen in a range of other parrot species.
Interp: N/Ag. Termination activity and/or bird does not wish to be disturbed? Bird may object to being disturbed by another, which it may then threaten, following a wing-flip. Self-comforting behaviour?
33. Wing-stretch. Both wings raised together once only, by extension from shoulder joint only (primaries not extended). May be followed by synchronous stretching of left or right limbs.
Interp: Af; Greeting offered to known bird (or human)? Commencement activity?
34. Yow! Bird makes sudden, irritated “Yow!” sound and adopts an upright stance. All feathers held down. Not seen in Af grey.
Interp: Ag; Bird objects (and rejects) something that has happened to it. Occurs during minor squabbles or rough play with another bird.
African Grey parrot found at Leverton Junior School
IT was a case of pretty lost Polly when a parrot turned up unannounced at a primary school.
The African Grey was found at Leverton Junior School, in Honey Lane, Waltham Abbey, and is now in the care of Epping Forest District Council after it was rescued by animal warden Lynn Cook.
The parrot is described as very tame with distinguishing features..
If you think you are the owner of the parrot call Lynn on 01992 564077. Proof of ownership will be required.
African Grey’s Stolen From Drayton Manor Theme Park.
How Sad! Drayton Manor theme park is appealing for the safe return of its African Grey Parrots after thieves stole six of the birds from its zoo.
The theft happened at Drayton Manor Theme Park sometime between Tuesday evening and early morning on Wednesday after thieves gained access to one of the aviary flights.
Managing director Colin Bryan appealed for the return of the birds.
He said: “The birds are tame and easily identifiable.
“As well as being an attraction at Drayton Manor Zoo, the parrots are also favourites with the keepers who are anxious for their welfare.
“If anyone hears of or knows the whereabouts of these parrots then please contact John Hayward, co-ordinator of the National Theft Register on 01869 325699 as soon as possible.”
Drayton Manor is offering a reward for the safe return of the parrots and any information, which might lead to a conviction of the thieves
Makes you sick when people steal parrots for a money making profit, it’s the poor birds who suffer as they are normally passed on to people who have not got a clue how to care for them properly and think they are getting a bargain by getting a cheap parrot, poor things!
Posted by Paula
